Because I Can
by Twonk
Summary: Bella has broken up with Edward- but why? It can't anything to do with Rosalie... can it?
1. Chapter 1

I looked at him, and clasped his hand. "I'm sorry."

Edward shook his head. "I don't understand."

I looked miserably at the floor, his hand still clenched in my fist. Edward. Once upon a time my heart would have skipped a beat every time I heard that name. One look of his topaz eyes could paralyse me. His touch… his touch was once more sensual than anything else in the world.

But now?

It was different. The dynamic had changed. I knew Edward still loved me, would do anything to keep us together. He was like my guardian angel, watching over me, seeing if I was safe. Hell, I'd probably be six feet under now, if it wasn't for Edward. I'm so unbelievably unlucky- something would have killed me in the end.

"Bella?"

I glanced upwards, and fixed my eyes to his marble face. He looked deadpan- too shocked to react. "Bella?"

"I'm really sorry." I tore my gaze away from him, and tried to stand, but he clasped on- not letting me break the connection. "Please, Edward. Let me go."

"You said you loved me." His voice wasn't angry- but it was cold, inhuman. His hand was gripping so tightly onto mine, that I felt the blood flow come to a halt. Gasping, I tried to wrench it away, but he was too strong, too powerful.

"Edward! _Please!" _My voice sounded like it was tearing apart, the calm flow becoming riddled with high pitched shrieks. Hot tears began to form in my eyes, and started to pour down my face. "Let me go!"

"JUST TELL ME _WHY!" _I stopped struggling, and collapsed back onto my bed- as limp as a fish out of water. I'd never heard him shout. Not even when he had been at his maddest, most disapproving or furious. It terrified me- the thoughts in my brain warped into freeze frame. What could he do to me? Were all the years, the happy memories for nothing? Was his rage enough that he would kill me there and then?

"I can't." I could barely even whisper, but Edward heard me as clearly as if I had shouted. With a terrifying sedulity, as if he could barely stop himself from unleashing a monstrous power, he released my hand, shoved back his chair and disappeared into the night.

I lay huddled in my blankets for a while, crying as if I could never stop. Edward. EdwardEdwardEdwardEdward. My mind was like a broken record- the same name running through my mind again and again- and each time I heard it, the heartbreak was fresh.

"Edward!" I screamed the name out into the darkness, my heart shredding as easily as paper. No one came to comfort me. Charlie was too used to me screaming out at night.

"Is it done?" Smooth female tones suddenly rang into the room. I didn't even turn.

"Yes." My eyes never left the duvet, I couldn't face her, I couldn't…

"It will be worth it." I could feel the weight on my bed, as she sat on the end. Her calm tones aggravated me. I had given up so much! Lost everything! And she didn't care, didn't take into account that I had had to give up everything. Frustration and fury sprang into my expression, like a hidden tiger leaping for it's prey.

"How do you know? How _could_ you know? The only thing you've ever loved is yourself!" My voice was harsh, ragged. I could practically hear her smile.

"But you love me."

"No."

"You _want _me."

My anger died as quickly as a water dowsed flame. "I can't help myself."

She was closer, I could feel the coldness from her skin radiate into my heart. I groaned, suppressing the urge to scream.

"Why do you do this? Why _me?"_

Her delicate hand cupped my face, the fingers stroking my skin, making me want to pull away but sigh in pleasure at the same time.

"Because I can."

Rosalie pressed her lips to mine, and I knew that whatever I once had, had ever treasured, was now truly ended.


	2. Chapter 2

At last she broke away, her face impassive. Without looking into my eyes, or even uttering a word, she stood up and began to walk with her usual enviable grace towards the door.

"Rosalie?" My voice trembled with trepidation into the darkness. "Where are you going?" As it became obvious that she was just going to leave me with no thanks, no words- nothing, I began to scream.

"Rosalie! You can't go! You can't leave me here on my own!" She didn't even look back. I heard the soft click of my lock and I realised that she had gone.

"No!" It seemed a little dramatic, but I really felt as if I had been betrayed. I wept into my pillow, its soft material absorbing all my screams, my sorrow, my pain. All I could think of was Edward; how I had hurt him, lost him. For what? For who? I didn't even know anymore.

There the sharp rap of knuckles on wood, and I stopped crying at once. "Rosalie? Edward?" My voice was hopeful, though I knew it was useless. Neither knocked- and Edward always acme in through the window.

"Bella? Do you want me to come in?" Ah, Charlie. I had probably been making too much noise and he had come to investigate. I suddenly felt selfish. Just because my own life was going down the toilet didn't mean I had to ruin Charlie's. _Again. _Since I had saved Edward from his suicide, I had made a mental pact to keep Charlie away from my problems as much as possible. Sometimes I couldn't. But this time… I had to. No choice.

"I'm okay!" Even to my own ears I sounded pathetic. "Just a bad dream!"

"About… Edward?" Even now he trouble saying his name. You could see the tension on his jaw, the bitterness in his mouth. To him, Edward had killed me. Stolen my mind and destroyed it beyond recognition. Still, although I had been back to 'normal' for months, you could always see the fear in his features, the terror for me that one day the light would again disappear from my eyes. "You… you were screaming his name."

"It's nothing. Just a misunderstanding!" It was ridiculous- two adults yelling back and forth through a closed door. A barrier. The barrier that I had built myself a long time ago.

"Right. Okay. Just keep it down alright?" Footsteps retreated and I heard the creak of him climbing back into bed. I expect he was pleased. Any chance that Edward and I could be pulled apart… he would seize on it. If only he knew. A twisted laugh battled it's way from between my lips. The tears had started again- but no longer the anguished ones I was so used to. They were silent- ones that came from the heart.

Tap. My breath caught in my throat, and I stared around the shadowed room searching for the noise.

Tap. Reactively, my head flung towards the window- could it be him? Had he come back?

I rushed out of bed and pulled the glass open- my face suddenly engulfed in cool night breeze.

"Edward!" My voice got carried away with the wind. "Please! Come back to me!"

My eyes were streaming with emotion, and each tear shed got ripped from my face with the gale. My hair whipped around, seemingly intent on strangling me. I pulled at it, wishing that I had tied it into my usual plait. "Edward!"

A stone hard pair arms suddenly shoved me back into the room, and encircled me, hugging me hard. The window slammed shut and the cold was replaced by sudden suffocating warmth. I didn't open my eyes, but hugged back, whispering for his forgiveness. It was only a few seconds later that I realised that the stature was too small for Edward- too delicate, too soft.

"Alice?"

"Bella." She didn't sound happy but instead… I couldn't tell. She released me from her grip, and quite roughly for her, shoved me into a chair. Her skin shone like a pearl embossed ghost, and her jet hair faded into the sobriety of the room. As I looked into her eyes, I felt a jolt, a sense of the greatest unease.

"Is it true?" Her voice was flat, had lost it's music. I stared for a second then started to babble.

"I want him back so much Alice! I don't know what possessed me, I don't know…" My ears exploded with the crack, and my face rocked with the blow. Had she… she couldn't have. Not Alice- soul sister, protector, best friend. Alice the sweetest, most innocent, most caring person I knew- apart from Edward himself. My hand went up to my cheek and I winced when I touched the burning skin. She had.

"I saw _everything._" Her teeth were clenched, her eyes shut tight. "Admittedly about two days before it happened. I thought I was going crazy- another vision that was never to be. But I couldn't push it from my mind. I had to see… if _it _was true. Then Edward comes home- and he's a _wreck _Bella- and I knew, just _knew_ that something was going on."

I had started to cry again, my face hidden in my hands. Alice took no notice. "Not Rosalie? Not Rose?" She was pleading- pleading that it was anybody else. When I didn't answer, she shook me- her urgency coming across more than violence. "Please- tell me!"

"It's true." Those two words, those two _pitiful _words were all that I could manage. Alice released my shoulders with a strangled cry.

"She was right. You have destroyed our family." Her expression was inhuman- a true vampire.

"No! It's not my fault! I-"

"It was obviously her sick plan. Just like Rosalie. No one can trust her. Her powers of manipulation exceed that of the devil."

"See? It was Rosalie Alice! It was-" This was not like me, to become so desperate to clear myself of blame. But it was either Rosalie or Edward…

_Rosalie. _

No!

"STOP!" Alice sounded as if she was on the brink of insanity.

I silenced myself at once, huddling into the chair's wicker.

"Did you ever think about Edward? About Carlisle? Emmett? _Anyone?" _

"Of course I did! I can't stop thinking about any of them!"

"You never think. That's more than one heart you've broken tonight." She was crying. For her family, for her new found hatred.

"Stay away Bella. Rosalie was right all along- we were all better of without you."

I jumped as if stung. "You don't mean that… you can't."

"Keep away Bella. No more blood shed. This will be hard enough."

"_More_…" The sudden freezing wind told me I was alone again. I shut the window, and crawled back into bed. It would be dawn soon, and I hadn't had a wink of sleep. But the last hour passed away in a confusion of thoughts, regrets, self- pity and… fear.

_This will be hard enough._ What did she mean? Not…

_Rosalie. _


	3. Chapter 3

I couldn't be bothered to get up the next day. I didn't think I could face the abyss of unending sorrow and pain, face the questions and unhidden glee from Charlie. So I stayed there; in bed, pretending to be asleep when in fact my mind was an emotional whirl.

What _exactly_ did Alice mean? About the bloodshed, and something being already hard enough? Surely… she didn't plan to _kill_ Rosalie, did she? To tear her apart like I'd so often envisioned would happen to Victoria? A thrill that wasn't exactly fear clambered up my spine. Something inside me, not as deep down as I hoped, was _wanting_ to see Rosalie ripped to shreds. I wanted to see her body suffer as much as, emotionally, I had.

_No. _

As quickly as it had come, the thought disappeared from my head. Rosalie was my _life-_ the only reason that I kept breathing, the only reason that I kept _wanting_ to breathe. What was I doing lying in bed, like some sort of slob? Why wasn't I rushing to that door, kicking it down, rescue plan fully in my mind?

My body continued to be glued to the mattress. Alice had said _keep away._ It would be suicide to even attempt to…

"Bella, it's late." Charlie's voice interrupted my growing panic. Mentally I sighed. Not another version of last night _please. _

"I'm getting up!" Not quite as chirpy as I hoped. To anyone who didn't even know me, I sounded completely emotionless, deadened. Suddenly, my bedroom door flew open with the force of an explosion. Charlie was standing in front of me, his face etched with rage, horror and the light of revenge.

"He's done something to you, hasn't he? It's all going to happen again!"

Just for a second, my mind had gone on vacation. I hope it was somewhere hot. "Who? What?"

"Don't give me that!" I'd often seen Charlie in a rage, but this was a whole new level. "I'll kill him!"

I stared at my father, trying to discern what the hell he was talking about.

_Edward._

"_He's done nothing- it was all me!" _My voice rose so that only the dogs could hear the words. I grabbed Charlie, trying to explain to him, trying to say that nothing was Edward's fault. I got roughly pushed aside, and I fell, my head banging against the edge of my dresser. Charlie didn't even notice- he was too intent on getting his prize.

"He's destroyed us for the last time!" Madness, plain madness. His face was crimson, and his eyes held a burning demonic fury. Without another word, he stalked down into the kitchen, his breathing heavy and ragged. Still screaming for him to listen, I followed, my feet tripping with every step I took.

"He's done nothing wrong! Charlie! Listen to me!"

With the a terrifying force, Charlie wrenched open the kitchen drawer, pulling it like an eye from it's socket. An assortment of cutlery hit the floor, scraping the lino on impact and rebounding in all directions. Only just in time I managed to sweep my foot out of the way, avoiding being impaled by a fork. Charlie wasn't so lucky. A vicious red wound slashed itself into his hand, the blood flowing freely, like a doomed warning. But the pain was past him, he was too enraged to feel.

"_What are you doing?" _I tried to grasp him, but only managed to make a fruitless snatch at his clothes. As if he was an archaeologist searching for lost treasure, he bent and searched through the twisted metal, his injured hand finally curling around the handle of a large knife.

"He's destroyed us for the last time." This time it wasn't an exclamation of fury. It was a threat, fate. I could have explained to him that nothing like this would hurt Edward, but I couldn't betray their secret. Hadn't I sunk low enough?

"Charlie," I could hear the tremble ring through my tones. "Put the knife _down._"

I expected him to ignore me, to slam out of the house determined to harm, to kill. But it seemed that rationality had seized him at the last moment. Charlie stared deep into my brown eyes that were still glistening with terror, and placed the blade slowly- as if using all self control- onto the table.

We kept eye contact for what seemed like hours. I could see his love for me, his concern, all mixed with the overwhelming desire to annihilate his only known nemesis. The person, that to him, had done me so much wrong.

He was the one to break the bond. Ducking away like I would strike him, he tore out of the house, the bang of the front door strangely amplified, too final.

I followed him, crying for him to come back; to stay at home and calm down. It didn't matter to me that I wasn't properly dressed, that people were staring. He would just make everything a hundred times worse.

No response. He shrugged off all my pleas as if they were irritating rain drops. He didn't even look at me.

The Cullen's mansion was in sight. I had given up asking, and was now brazenly begging. Several times I tried to pull him back, his strength flinging me away with no effort at all. He practically ran up the drive, me behind him, knowing that everything was impossible.

"Charlie STOP!"

His clenched fist didn't even hesitate before hammering on the door.

"OPEN UP! I WANT TO SEE HIM, I WANT TO SEE THAT SMUG FACE THAT KILLED MY GIRL!" Charlie was bawling into the stone, his voice shaking with insanity.

With a creak the door swung open, and there stood Jasper, his face a cloud of bemusement. His gaze fixed itself onto my face first, and absorbed the fear, the dread. He turned to look at Charlie, who for the first time, seemed to be at a loss. The adrenaline was running out, and he appeared forlorn, a confused little boy.

"Let me talk to Edward." He tried to gain back his authority, his stature, but he sounded weak. Jasper made no answer.

His sharp eyes were hooked onto Charlie's hand, and the flowing blood became painfully obvious. The hunger was devastating. Before I could even shriek for help- anyone, anything- Jasper had plunged his teeth into Charlie's injured flesh.

**NB: This all may seem a little OOC but hey, it's MY fanfic, and it's necessary for **_**la**_** plot. So yes. R&R! **


	4. Chapter 4

The scream that issued from my mouth was so piercing that I was sure it would break every window in the vicinity. Jasper ignored me, his teeth embedded in Charlie's skin- his throat constricting as he swallowed the river of blood.

For a second, all I could do was watch. It was like my limbs had all been frozen-I was a statue of ice, my eyes to wide to even blink. Finally, reality crashed back down on me like a tidal wave.

"Charlie!" My voice was twisted with distress, and I ran towards my screaming father, still shrieking his name. Wildly, I clawed at Jasper, trying to prize him off with little effect. Like I was no more than an irritating fly, the vampire swatted at me, and I was knocked onto the gravel, the little stones cutting into my arms.

Charlie continued to struggle, though he was noticeably getting weaker by the second. Like all will of survival, as well as precious fluid, was being drained from him, his body began to slump, his eyes became dim, his skin vanished of colour…

"CHARLIE!"

Finally, _finally,_ my screams were heard. A roaring black shape bolted from the hallway, and tackled Jasper to the ground, ripping his teeth away from my father. I crawled over to him, and attempted to pull him into my grasp. I hated the way his head lolled, and his breathing seemed far too shallow. Was he…? He couldn't…

The fight continued only a couple of metres away. I could now see that it was Edward fighting Jasper, and that he was sparing no punches. Too many times I saw the flash of inhuman teeth, and wild eyes (Jasper's) staring at all the blood that was going to waste. Too many times I saw Jasper trick Edward into seeming that he was going to give up, then suddenly lunge at us again, hands spread like gnarled claws. Too many times I heard the animalistic screeches ring out with real anger and pain. I tried to pull Charlie into the house, and leave them to it, but his dead weight was too much for my abused body. I slumped to the ground, and cradled him, my tears sliding down my face and soaking into his hair.

Everything was getting worse. Heavy, pendulous clouds had started to crowd the sky, giving the scene the most unrealistic appearance. The fight was still in full swing, and when the first drops of rain pattered into my hair, I felt like laughing. I was no longer scared. What was there to be scared of? I didn't fear death. I feared pain, but if I gave myself up now, surely everything would be quicker, easier…

It was going to be a storm. A fork of lightening slashed at the sky, the rain getting heavier and falling in sheets. The weather didn't affect the fighting vampires- I wasn't sure they even noticed. Thunder rippled through the air, a growl from Hell's Angels, but Charlie didn't even stir. I realised I had lost him.

I _did _start to laugh then- not bitter, cynical chuckles, but great lungfuls of larynx ripping, awful, terrifying booms. High, pure and heart rending. Laughter that marked the true ending of sanity as I knew it. A peal got caught in my throat and I choked, coughing and cackling simultaneously, without the self control of being able to stop. I suddenly realised that I couldn't breathe, that every giggle was a rope being tightened around my neck. Frantically, I clutched myself, the rain streaming into my eyes, blinding me, drowning me…

A pair of strong arms dragged me into the house, and wrenched Charlie from my grasp. They made no attempt to help me up, but left me lying on the flagstones; I heard the bump of a body (corpse?) as it was dragged up a flight of stairs. Wet through, and still feeling oxygen deprived, I lay back on the hard stone floor, my breathing far too deep to be normal. Without much hope I tried to open my eyes, but the lids felt like stone. I gave up. It was obviously meant to be.

***

They hadn't let me die. Of course they hadn't, they still loved me, even if I was the most evil, soul-destroying bitch that they had ever laid eyes on. They were sitting round me, in a solemn circle, identical expressions on their faces. Emmett, Edward, Alice, Carlisle, Esme… Jasper was missing. Careful not to open my eyes too wide- I didn't want them to know I was awake, as this moment was so special- I raked around the room for Rosalie. There she was, lounging in the corner with an expression like a smirk on her face. It was too much.

I sat up, face feral. "Charlie!" I managed to gasp, tones ragged, fearful. As soon as I showed that sign of life, Edward left the room, perfect features screwed up as if I had electrocuted him. I tried not to care, but my heart splintered yet another time. Emmett stayed, I noticed, with a desperate interest. Perhaps Alice hadn't told…

"Bella," Carlisle's voice was gentle, but too measured, as if he had another burden to drop like a ten tonne weight on my shoulders. "Charlie's…"

He was dead. Jasper had taken his life, torn apart mine, shredded my sanity, mutilated my mind. I couldn't be bothered to cry, or scream, or lament. I didn't feel upset. I didn't feel anything. "Charlie's dead." I finished the doctor's sentence, voice as blank as paper.

"He's not." There was no joy in these news, only tiredness. My heart lifted, only to sink again, like chains were binding it to the floor. Was there anything worse than death? Surely death was the most brutal of all undeserved punishment? So why did Carlisle sound so… weary?

"Then what?" My voice was sharp- ungrateful, considering they had saved me, yet again. But I needed to know. I needed to understand why everything was like an abyss, taking all pleasure and delight from existence.

"The wounds Jasper gave Charlie were too multiple, too deep. I'm sorry Bella, but…"

"No."

"He's up there now, and he's in a lot of pain. I did all I could, but there was too much, too many…"

"NO!"

"It won't take long, only three days, and we'll look after him Bella. We'll teach him our ways and you'll still have your father…"

"I CAN'T LISTEN TO THIS! I CAN'T-"

Esme bundled me into her arms, stroking my hair, rubbing my back. I struggled fruitlessly, trying to escape, to flee, but she was too strong, and eventually I accepted fate, and wilted like a dead rose into her chest. Alice was next to me, whispering comforting nonsense- the opposite to the angry demon in my room only hours earlier.

"You're forgiven Bella. My, this is far certainly punishment enough. We'll look after him Bella, only a few months and you can see him again, and all will seem normal…"

Normal? _Normal? _When I entered this dangerous world, I never meant to bring anybody else with me. And now my father was a vampire. How _normal_ was that?

**AN: I know Bella spends a lot of time crying, and this story is pretty traumatic. I might not be handling it very well- I'm not used to writing seriously, to be honest.**


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